Approach for managing the use of communications channels based on performance

ABSTRACT

An approach for selecting sets of communications channels involves determining the performance of communications channels. A set of channels is selected based on the results of performance testing and specified criteria. The participant generates data that identifies the selected set of channels and provides that data to other participants of the communications network. The participants communicate over the set of channels, such as by using a frequency hopping protocol. When a specified time expires or monitoring of the performance of the channel set identifies poor performance of the set of channels, the participant selects another set of channels for use in communications based on additional performance testing. By selecting channels based on the initial performance testing and performance monitoring, the communications network adaptively avoids channels with poor performance.

PRIORITY CLAIMS AND RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of prior U.S. patent application Ser.No. 15/880,933 filed Jan. 26, 2018, entitled “APPROACH FOR MANAGING THEUSE OF COMMUNICATIONS CHANNELS BASED ON PERFORMANCE”, which is acontinuation of prior U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/194,091 filedJun. 27, 2016, now issued as U.S. Pat. No. 9,883,520, entitled “APPROACHFOR MANAGING THE USE OF COMMUNICATIONS CHANNELS BASED ON PERFORMANCE,”which is a continuation of prior U.S. patent application Ser. No.14/525,120 filed Oct. 27, 2014, now issued as U.S. Pat. No. 9,379,769,entitled “APPROACH FOR MANAGING THE USE OF COMMUNICATIONS CHANNELS BASEDON PERFORMANCE,” which is a continuation of prior U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 14/034,206 filed Sep. 23, 2013, now issued as U.S.Pat. No. 8,873,500, entitled “APPROACH FOR MANAGING THE USE OFCOMMUNICATIONS CHANNELS BASED ON PERFORMANCE,” which is a continuationof prior U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/043,419 filed Mar. 8, 2011,now issued as U.S. Pat. No. 8,542,643 on Sep. 24, 2013, entitled“APPROACH FOR MANAGING THE USE OF COMMUNICATIONS CHANNELS BASED ONPERFORMANCE,” which is a divisional of prior U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 12/352,595 filed Jan. 12, 2009, now issued as U.S. Pat. No.7,903,608 on Mar. 8, 2011, entitled “APPROACH FOR MANAGING THE USE OFCOMMUNICATIONS CHANNELS BASED ON PERFORMANCE,” which is a continuationof U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/397,443, filed Apr. 3, 2006, nowissued as U.S. Pat. No. 7,477,624 on Jan. 13, 2009, entitled “APPROACHFOR MANAGING THE USE OF COMMUNICATIONS CHANNELS BASED ON PERFORMANCE,”which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/948,488,filed Sep. 6, 2001, now issued as U.S. Pat. No. 7,027,418 on Jan. 13,2009, entitled “APPROACH FOR SELECTING COMMUNICATIONS CHANNELS BASED ONPERFORMANCE,” which claims the benefit of prior U.S. Provisional PatentApplication Ser. No. 60/264,594, filed on Jan. 25, 2001, titled“ADAPTIVE FREQUENCY HOPPING—A COEXISTENCE MECHANISM FOR A FREQUENCYHOPPING COMMUNICATION SYSTEM TO COEXIST WITH NON-FREQUENCY-HOPPINGCOMMUNICATION SYSTEMS SHARING THE SAME FREQUENCY BAND.” The entiredisclosures of each of the foregoing applications are herebyincorporated by reference for all purposes as if fully set forth herein.

This application is related to U.S. patent application Ser. No.10/052,019, filed Jan. 16, 2002, now issued as U.S. Pat. No. 7,222,166on May 22, 2007, entitled “APPROACH FOR MANAGING COMMUNICATIONS CHANNELSBASED ON PERFORMANCE AND TRANSFERRING FUNCTIONS BETWEEN PARTICIPANTS INA COMMUNICATIONS ARRANGEMENT,” naming Bijan Treister, Hongbing Gan, andEfstratios Skafidas as inventors, U.S. patent application Ser. No.09/948,499, filed Sep. 6, 2001, entitled “APPROACH FOR MANAGINGCOMMUNICATIONS CHANNELS BASED ON PERFORMANCE,” naming Bijan Treister,Hongbing Gan, and Efstratios Skafidas as inventors, and U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 09/939,105, filed Aug. 24, 2001, now issued as U.S.Pat. No. 7,310,661 on Dec. 18, 2007, entitled “APPROACH FOR TRANSFERRINGFUNCTIONS BETWEEN PARTICIPANTS IN A COMMUNICATIONS ARRANGEMENT,” namingBijan Treister, Hongbing Gan, and Efstratios Skafidas as inventors.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention generally relates to communications systems, andmore particularly to managing the use of communications channels basedon performance.

BACKGROUND

The approaches described in this section are approaches that could bepursued, but not necessarily approaches that have been previouslyconceived or pursued. Therefore, unless otherwise indicated, theapproaches described in this section are not prior art to the claims inthis application and are not admitted to be prior art by inclusion inthis section.

A communications network is any system or mechanism that provides forthe exchange of information or data between participants. As usedherein, the term “participant” refers to a device or mechanism thatcommunicates with other devices or mechanisms. In some communicationsnetwork arrangements, one of the participants is designated as a masterparticipant, or simply as the “master.” The master generally initiatesand controls communications with the other participants, which areconventionally referred to as slave participants, or simply as “slaves.”Masters may also be assigned other functions to perform. Although amaster participant typically performs additional functions than theother participants, any participant is capable of performing thesefunctions if elected as the master participant.

A frequency hopping (FH) protocol is an approach for wirelesscommunications in a communications network that uses a frequency hoppingsignal transmission technique in which information or data istransmitted over a set of frequencies in a communications frequencyband. A frequency hopping communications system is a system that uses aFH protocol. The order in which the communications network hops amongthe set of frequencies is known as the hopping sequence.

In contrast to FH systems, a non-frequency hopping (NFH) system issimply a communications system whose carrier does not hop over a set offrequencies. A typical NFH system may occupy a portion of thecommunications frequency band corresponding to several frequencies usedby an FH system.

With the FH approach, the frequency band is broken up into separatefrequencies, often referred to as “channels.” The FH system transmitsdata on one channel, hops to the next channel in the hopping sequence totransmit more data, and continues by transmitting data on subsequentchannels in the hopping sequence. The switching of frequencies may occurmany times each second. The use of an FH protocol helps to reduceproblems with interference from other communications systems and otherinterference sources. Frequency hopping also helps with fading oftransmissions and power consumption and also provides security for thetransmission so that others may not intercept the data being transmittedbecause others do not know the hopping sequence.

An example of a frequency hopping protocol is the Institute ofElectrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.15.1 Wireless PersonalArea Network Standard, which is based on the Bluetooth™ wirelesspersonal area network (WPAN) technology from the Bluetooth SpecialInterest Group. The BLUETOOTH trademarks are owned by Bluetooth SIG,Inc., U.S.A. The Bluetooth protocol uses 79 individual randomly chosenfrequency channels numbered from O to 78 and changes the frequencies1600 times per second. Examples of NFH systems include the IEEE 802.11bWireless Local Area Network (WLAN) and the IEEE 802.15.3 next-generationWPAN, both of which operate in the 2.4 GHz Industrial, Scientific,Medical (ISM) band, which is an unlicensed portion of the radio spectrumthat may be used in most countries by anyone without a license

An FH communications system may be either point-to-point, meaning thatcommunications paths are provided from one participant to anotherparticipant, or point-to-multipoint, meaning that communications pathsare provided from one participant to multiple participants.

Typically one device of the network, such as the master, determines thehopping sequence that will be used by all participants of the network.The other participants of the network, such as slaves, are timesynchronized with the master to maintain communications with the master.For example, the Bluetooth and IEEE 802.15.1 frequency hopping protocolsare point-to-multipoint systems in which the frequency hopping sequenceis determined by the physical address of the master and the phase ofhopping is determined by the master's clock. The “physical address” ofthe master is a unique identifier, such as a media access control (MAC)address, that identifies the device anywhere in the world on a network.

Some FH communications system are configured such that certain devicestransmit at specified times or timeslots. For example, slaves mayrespond to the master at assigned timeslots. As another example, in aBluetooth FH communications system, the master may transmit ateven-numbered timeslots on the hopping sequence and the slaves listen atthose regular intervals. The master will address one slave (or allslaves in a “broadcast” mode), and the addressed slave returns back tothe master at the next odd-numbered timeslot.

A preamble, which is known to all the participants of the FH network, isused to identify the network and for the slaves to synchronize with themaster. For example, in Bluetooth and IEEE 802.15.1, the known preambleis called the “channel access code.”

One problem with frequency hopping communications systems is thatcoexistence problems arise between the FH communications system and NFHcommunications systems that operate in the same frequency band. Whilethe FH communications system hops over the entire frequency band, theNFH communications systems occupy separate parts of the frequency band.When the FH communications system hops over part of the frequency bandoccupied by an NFH communications system, there may be interferencebetween the systems. Although the use of a FH protocol helps to lessenthe interference problem because not all of the FH channels willinterfere with other communications systems, there nevertheless remainsinterference on those channels that coincide with the NFH communicationssystems. An example of the interference situation is the coexistenceproblem between the frequency hopping IEEE 802.15.1 WPAN and thenon-frequency hopping IEEE 802.11b Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN)because both share the 2.4 GHz ISM band.

Further, because of the dynamic nature of interference due to the use ofdevices at different times and locations, eventually all FH channelswill experience some degree of interference at some time. Interferencemay change depending on when the communications systems use the band andthe relative locations of the participants of each system toparticipants of another system. Because the participants may be mobile,interference may vary depending on the movements of the participants ofone system relative to the locations of participants of other systems.In addition, interference may arise from other sources, such as someconsumer appliances like microwave ovens, resulting in a degradation ofperformance of the FH communications system.

Interference results in data transmission errors, such as an increase inthe bit error rate (BER) or the loss of data packets, resulting inreduced transmission quality and performance and the need to retransmitthe data.

One approach for managing the coexistence problem is to increase thepower used in the transmissions so that the other interfering systemhave less of an impact on the system transmitting at the increasedpower. However, this increased power approach drains batteries used bythe participants, and thus the required power increase may beimpractical. Also, the increased power approach only benefits the systemusing the increased power and results in a bigger interference impact onother systems.

Another approach for managing the coexistence problem is to skip a “bad”channel that suffers from interference, such as by moving onto the nextchannel in the sequence or by jumping to another randomly selectedchannel. However, this skipping approach does not necessarily avoidother bad channels because the next channel used may also have aninterference problem. Also, known “bad” and “good” channels may changeover time due to the transient nature of some types of interference.

Based on the need for wireless communications and the limitations ofconventional approaches, an approach for managing interference incommunications system, such as the coexistence problem between frequencyhopping communications systems and non-frequency hopping communicationssystems, that does not suffer from the limitations of the priorapproaches is highly desirable.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Techniques are provided for selecting sets of communications channelsbased on channel performance. According to one aspect of the invention,a method selects communications channels for a communications system. Aset of communications channels is selected based on the performance ofthe communications channels and channel selection criteria. Then anotherset of communications channels is selected based on a later performanceof the communications channels and the channel selection criteria.

According to another aspect of the invention, a method is provided forcommunicating with a participant. A set of communications channels isselected based on the performance of the communications channels and aperformance criterion. Identification data that identifies the set ofcommunications channels is generated and provided to the participant.The set of communications channels is used for communicating with theparticipant according to a frequency hopping protocol. According toother aspects, another set of communications channels is selected in asimilar manner when a specified criterion is satisfied, including butnot limited to, after expiration of a specified length of time, when theperformance of at least one of the channels in the set of channelssatisfies another performance criterion, or when a specified number ofthe set of channels satisfies yet another performance criterion.

According to one aspect of the invention, a communications device isused in a network that communicates via a frequency hopping protocol.The communications device includes a memory that has identification datathat identifies a set of communications channels that is selected basedon channel performance and a performance criterion. The communicationsdevice includes a transceiver that is communicatively coupled to thememory and that is configured to transmit and receive, based on theidentification data, over the set of channels, according to a frequencyhopping protocol. The communications device includes a processor forgenerating a measurement of channel performance based on receiving apacket from another device and transmitting another packet to the otherdevice that contains data indicating the measurement of channelperformance.

According to another aspect, another communications device is used in anetwork that communicates via a frequency hopping protocol. Thecommunications device includes a memory for storing sequences ofinstructions and a processor communicatively coupled to the memory. Whenthe processor executes the instructions, the instructions cause theprocessor to determine the performance of communications channels andthen select a set of channels based on the performance and a performancecriterion. The processor generates and stores in the memory data thatidentifies the set of channels and transmits the data to anothercommunications device. The communications device includes a transceiverthat is communicatively coupled to the memory and that is configured totransmit and receive, based on the data, over the set of channelsaccording to a frequency hopping protocol.

According to another aspect of the invention, a communications channelselector apparatus is provided. The apparatus is configured to determinechannel performance at one time and select based on that performance aset of channels based on channel selection criteria. The apparatus isconfigured to then determine the channel performance at a later time andselect another set of channels based on that latter performance and thechannel selection criteria.

According to other aspects, the invention encompasses a system, acomputer-readable medium, and a carrier wave configured to carry out theforegoing functions.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention is depicted by way of example, and not by way oflimitation, in the figures of the accompanying drawings and in whichlike reference numerals refer to similar elements and in which:

FIG. 1A is a flow diagram that depicts an approach for selecting sets ofcommunications channels based on channel performance, according to anembodiment of the invention;

FIG. 1B is a flow diagram that depicts an approach for communicatingwith a participant using a set of good channels, selected according toan embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram that depicts a communications network,according to an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 3A is a block diagram that depicts an example format of a standardpacket, according to an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 3B is a block diagram that depicts a master test packet that issent by a master to slaves to test channel performance, according to anembodiment of the invention;

FIG. 3C is a block diagram that depicts a slave test packet that is sentby a slave to a master to provide channel performance measurements andto test channel performance, according to an embodiment of theinvention;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram that depicts a good channel packet sent by amaster to slaves to identify a set of selected channels, according to anembodiment of the invention;

FIG. 5A is a block diagram that depicts the loading of a set of channelsinto a channel register, according to an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 5B is a block diagram that depicts the replacement of bad channelswith good channels in a default set of channels in a channel register,according to an embodiment of the invention;

FIGS. 6A, 6B, and 6C are flow diagrams that depict example messagesequencing for implementing adaptive frequency hopping, according to anembodiment of the invention; and

FIG. 7 is a block diagram that depicts a computer system upon whichembodiments of the invention may be implemented.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

An approach for selecting sets of communications channels based onchannel performance is described. In the following description, for thepurposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth inorder to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention. Itwill be apparent, however, that the present invention may be practicedwithout these specific details. In other instances, well-knownstructures and devices are depicted in block diagram form in order toavoid unnecessarily obscuring the present invention.

In the following description, various embodiments of the invention aredescribed in the following sections:

-   -   I. OVERVIEW    -   II. TESTING CHANNEL PERFORMANCE        -   A Special Test Packets        -   B. Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI)        -   C. Preamble Correlation        -   D. Header Error Check (HEC)        -   E. Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC)        -   F. Packet Loss Ratio (PLR)        -   G. Forward Error Correction (FEC)        -   H. Other Channel Performance Testing Considerations    -   III. CHANNEL CLASSIFICATION    -   IV. COMMUNICATING SELECTED CHANNELS TO PARTICIPANTS    -   V. IMPLEMENTING ADAPTIVE FREQUENCY HOPPING    -   VI. MONITORING CHANNELS    -   VII. MESSAGE SEQUENCING AND EXAMPLE IMPLEMENTATION    -   VIII. IMPLEMENTATION MECHANISMS

I. Overview

A novel approach for managing network communications generally involvesselecting sets of communications channels based on channel performance.An initial set of channels is selected based on one or more selectioncriteria at the start-up of the communications network. Additional setsof channels are then periodically selected to adaptively avoidinterference.

FIG. 1A is a flow diagram that depicts an approach for selecting sets ofcommunications channels based on channel performance, according to anembodiment of the invention. In block 110, the performance of a set ofavailable communications channels is determined. For example, for acommunications system that uses 100 channels, some or all of the I 00channels may be tested to determine channel performance. Other systemsusing the same frequency band may interfere with several of the I 00channels.

In block 114, a set of communications channels to be used is selectedbased on the channel performance determined in block 110, one or moreperformance criteria, and one or more selection criteria. For example, acommunications system may experience interference on channels 3 through5 from one communications system and on channels 50 through 54 fromanother communications system. The channel testing may indicate a highbit error rate (BER) on those channels. Channels may be classified bycomparing the test results to the performance criteria. For example, theperformance criteria may be a specified value, or a specified threshold.If the BER for a channel exceeds the specified threshold, the channel isclassified as “good,” whereas channels with a BER that does not exceedthe specified threshold are classified as “bad.” The reason why a badchannel's performance does exceed the specified threshold may be due toa variety of reasons, including but not limited to, the channel beingused by another communications system or noise from other interferencesources, such as microwave ovens.

After classifying the performance of the channels, a set of channels isselected based on the selection criteria. For example, the selectioncriteria may be to select the good channels but not the bad channels.Thus, by selecting the set of good communications channels, thecommunications system performing the channel selection may avoidinterference present on the bad channels.

Although this example describes the use of a particular type ofperformance criteria to classify channels and particular type ofselection criteria to select from the classified channels, otherapproaches may be used to select a set of channels. For example,channels may be selected based on comparing performance results to oneor more criteria without first classifying the channels. Also, othercriteria may be used, for example, that particular channels are, or arenot, to be selected regardless of the test results.

In block 118, the performance of the communications channels isdetermined again by additional testing. This additional testing may beinitiated according to a specified schedule, such as the expiration ofspecified time period, or the additional testing may be initiated as aresult of monitoring and detecting new interference among the selectedset of channels, such as from another communications system thatpreviously did not cause interference. For example, in thecommunications system example above, the additional testing may beperformed over some or all of the original 100 channels.

In block 122, a new set of communications channels is selected based onthe channel performance determined in block 118 in a manner similar tothat of block 114 above. For example, the new set of channels may bebased on selecting channels that are good when the additional testing ofblock 118 is performed. The new set of channels may be different thanthe good channels selected in block 112 because new interferencetypically may be present from other systems that were not being used atthe time of the first testing of block 110 or that were not insufficient proximity at the time of the first testing of block 110 tocause sufficient interference to result in the channels being classifiedas bad.

According to other aspects of the invention, the determination andre-determination of channel performance depicted by blocks 110 and 118may be performed by a different entity or device than the selection ofthe channels depicted in blocks 114 and 122. In general, each step maybe performed by a different entity, and a particular entity may performany number of the steps of a particular embodiment of the invention.

The determination of channel performance and the selection of a new setof communications channels depicted by blocks 118 and 122, respectively,may be repeated based on the same types of reasons as discussed abovefor block 118. As a result, the method depicted in FIG. 1A mayadaptively avoid interference, even if the interference changes overtime, by periodically retesting channel performance and selecting newsets of communications channels to avoid using channels withunacceptable performance.

This approach avoids interference, such as from the coexistence problembetween different communications systems that use the same part of acommunications band, by testing performance of communications channelsto determine a set of channels that have acceptable performanceaccording to one or more performance criteria.

By using this novel approach to adaptively select sets of communicationschannels based on channel performance at various times, interferenceproblems are reduced and transmission performance is improved for boththe communications system that selects a set of communications channelsto use and other interfering communications systems. Also, by reducinginterference, the power level required to achieve a specifiedtransmission quality is decreased, thereby increasing battery life ofmobile devices. The approach described herein may be characterized as“robust” because interference in a communications system is reduced oreliminated by using channels that have been tested and determined to be“good” because channel performance exceeds a specified threshold ascompared to channels that have been tested and “because channelperformance falls below the specified threshold. The approach describedherein is a simple scheme that is easy to implement on many devices (dueto the low computational requirements), that requires little memory, andthat is fully interoperable with devices that do not support this novelapproach.

FIG. 1B is a flow diagram 100 that depicts an approach for communicatingwith a participant using a set of good channels, selected according toan embodiment of the invention. In block 130, performance data forcommunications channels is determined. For example, in a Bluetooth or anIEEE 802.15.1 FH communications system, some or all of the 79 channelsmay be tested to determine a received signal strength indication (RSSI)or by checking transmission quality based on transmission errors.

In block 132, a set of communications channels is selected by comparingthe performance data determined in block 130 to performance criteria todetermine whether each channel is good or bad. Then a set of channels isselected that includes only good channels. For example, channels 25-30of the original 79 channels of the Bluetooth or IEEE 802.15.1 FHcommunications system examples above may be classified as bad due tointerference from an NFH communications system, resulting in theselection of channels 0-24 and 31-78 for the channel set.

In block 134, channel identification data is generated that identifiesthe set of selected communications channels. For example, in theBluetooth or IEEE 802.15.1 FH communications system examples above, areduced frequency hopping sequence that uses good channels 0-24 and31-78 may be selected, or alternatively, bad channels 25-30 may bereplaced by randomly-selected good channels in the normal hoppingsequence.

In block 136, the channel identification data identifying the selectedset of communications channels is provided to the participant. Forexample, in the Bluetooth or IEEE 802.15.1 FH communications systemexamples above, the master may provide a slave with information on whichchannels are selected and/or not selected in block 132 (e.g., channels0-24 and 31-78).

In block 138, the set of communications channels is used to communicatewith the participant. For example, in the Bluetooth or IEEE 802.15.1 FHcommunications system examples above, a master may communicate with theslave using the set of selected channels as identified in theidentification data generated in block 134.

In block 140, the performance of the communications channels isredetermined. The performance determination in block 140 may be in amanner similar to, or different from, that of the original performancedetermination in block 130. The redetermination of channel performancein block 140 may be initiated based on a number of criteria. Forexample, the new testing may be performed at periodic intervals, wheninterference is detected on the selected set of communications channels,or when the available number of good channels falls below a specifiednumber.

In block 142, a new set of communications channels is selected based onthe testing performed in block 140 and specified performance criteria todetermine which channels are currently good and which are bad. Forexample, in the Bluetooth or IEEE 802.15.1 FH communications systemexamples above, a mobile NFH communications system that previouslycaused interference may no longer be a problem if the NFH communicationssystem is no longer operating or has moved away from the FHcommunications system. Also, another previously undetected NFHcommunications system may be causing interference for the oppositereason. For this example, assume that the NFH communications systemcausing interference on channels 25-30 is no longer a problem becausethe NFH communications system has moved, but also assume that another FHcommunications system is now active and causing interference on channels3, 22, 48, and 53.

In block 144, data is generated, which identifies the new set ofcommunications channels. For example, in the Bluetooth or IEEE 802.15.1FH communications system examples above, a smaller frequency hoppingsequence that does not use channels 3, 22, 48, and 53 may be selected,or channels 3, 22, 48, and 53 may be replaced by good channels in thenormal hopping sequence.

In block 146, the data identifying the new selected set ofcommunications channels is provided to the participant. For example, inthe Bluetooth or IEEE 802.15.1 FH communications system examples above,the master may provide a slave with a hopping sequence based on the newchannels selected in block 142.

In block 148, the new set of communications channels is used tocommunicate with the participant. For example, in the Bluetooth or IEEE802.15.1 FH communications system examples above, a master maycommunicate with the slave using the set of selected channels asidentified in the identification data generated in block 144.

The steps in blocks 140-148 may be repeated as necessary depending onthe requirements of a particular application or implementation. As aresult, the approach may be used to adaptively select sets ofcommunications channels that provide a specified channel performance,thereby avoiding interference with other communications systems andother sources of interference.

According to another embodiment of the invention, a new set ofcommunications channels is used to supplement an existing set ofcommunications channels. In contrast to the approach above in which thesecond set of channels is determined by retesting all possible channelsand then using the second set in place of the first set (or in place ofa default set), a specified number of channels may be randomly selectedfor testing, and if found to have acceptable performance, used to add tothose channels of the first set that still have acceptable performance.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram that depicts a communications network 200,according to an embodiment of the invention. For clarity, FIG. 2 depictsa small number of communications devices, whereas in practice any numberof such communications devices may be used. Examples of communicationsdevices that may be used in a network that uses the channel selectionapproach described herein include, but are not limited to, wirelessdevices that are used in wireless local area networks (WLANs) and inwireless personal area networks (WPANs), such as cordless phones, laptopcomputers, desktop computers, printers, and personal digital assistants(PDAs). Wireless devices may communicate in a variety of ways, includingbut not limited to, infrared, line of sight, cellular, microwave,satellite, packet radio and spread spectrum technologies. Somecommunications devices may be characterized as mobile devices based onthe relative ease of moving such devices between locations or becausethe mobile devices may be conveniently carried by a person, such ascordless phones, laptop computers, and PDAs.

Communications network 200 includes a master 210 and slaves 220, 230.Master 210 includes a memory 212 that may be used to store instructions,a processor 214 that may execute the instructions stored in memory 212,and a transceiver 216 that is configured to transmit and receivecommunications between master 210 and other devices of communicationsnetwork 200, such as slaves 220, 230.

Slaves 220, 230 include a memory 222, 232, a processor 224, 234 and atransceiver 226, 236, respectively, that perform functions similar tothe corresponding elements of master 210.

According to one embodiment of the invention, master 210 selects, asdescribed herein, a set of communications channels from the defaultcommunications channels for a specified communications protocol,generates identification data for the selected set of channels, andtransmits the identification data to slave 220, such as by using theapproach of FIG. 1B.

However, slave 230 may not be capable of using the selected set ofchannels. For example, slave 230 may not be configured to use a selectedset of good channels sent by master 210. As a result, master 210communicates with slave 220 using the selected set of communicationschannels and communicates with slave 230 using the defaultcommunications channels for the specified communications protocol. Forexample, if a FH communications protocol is used, master 210 and slave220 communicate by hopping over the selected set of good communicationschannels, while master 210 and slave 230 communicate by hopping over thedefault communications channels for the FH protocol.

II. Testing Channel Performance

According to one embodiment of the invention, channel performance ismonitored using one or more channel performance measurement techniques.For example, any of the techniques for measuring channel performancethat are discussed below may be used alone or in combination. Differentmethods may be used for testing channels to select a set ofcommunications channels and to monitor the performance of the selectedset of communications channels, depending on the requirements of aparticular application or implementation. Although testing is normallyperformed on all possible communications channels, it is not necessaryto test all channels, nor is it necessary to use the same method fordetermining or monitoring performance of different channels.

A Special Test Packets

According to one embodiment of the invention, special test packetscontaining known content are used to test the performance ofcommunications channels. As used herein, a “packet” is a block of dataused for transmissions in a packet-switched system. For example, packetsmay include a preamble, a header, a payload, and a tail, alone or in anycombination.

The number of error bits (NEB) that occur in the known content of thespecial test packets may be calculated to determine channel performance.For channels in which there is interference, such as from anothercommunications system, the NEB will be high as a result of theinterference. Conversely, if there is no interference, the NEB will below.

For example, a slave may calculate the NEB for a transmission from amaster to the slave and include the result in a subsequent transmissionfrom the slave to the master. In addition to receiving the calculatedNEB from the slave in the subsequent transmission, the master maycalculate the NEB for the transmission from the slave to the masterbased on the subsequent transmission. As a result, performance in bothdirections of communications may be measured, which may be importantbecause interference may occur to differing degrees in each directiondepending on many factors, such as the relative locations of the masterand slave to a source of interference.

FIG. 3A is a block diagram that depicts an example format of a standardpacket 300, according to an embodiment of the invention. Standard packet300 is for a Bluetooth or an IEEE 802.15.1 FH communications system.Standard packet 300 includes a known preamble 310, a packet header 320,and a payload 330.

Known preamble 310 is used to identify the FH communications network andfor the slaves to synchronize with the master. Known preamble 310 is abinary string of data whose length depends on the communicationsprotocol. For example, for a Bluetooth based FH communications system,known preamble 310 is 72 bits in length.

Packet header 320 contains control information, such as the originationand destination address of the packet, the type of packet, and thepriority level for the packet.

Payload 330 contains the contents or data being carried by standardpacket 300, as compared to the control information, or overhead, ofpacket header 320.

FIG. 3B is a block diagram that depicts a master test packet 360 that issent by a master to slaves to test channel performance, according to anembodiment of the invention. Master test packet 360 includes a knownpreamble 340, a packet header 364, a payload header 366, and copies ofknown preamble 370, 372, 374.

Known preamble 340 is analogous to known preamble 310 of FIG. 3A, butknown preamble 340 is unique for the FH communications system that usesmaster test packet 360.

Packet header 364 is analogous to packet header 320 in FIG. 3A, but maydiffer based on the content of master test packet 360, such as theparticular original and destination addresses of the packet.

Payload header 366 contains control information relating to the payloadportion of master test packet 360, such as the type of data contained inthe payload. For the example depicted in FIG. 3B, payload header 366identifies that the payload of master test packet 360 contains aspecified number of copies of known preamble 340, depicted as copies ofknown preamble 370, 372, 374. Although master test packet 360 isdepicted and described as including three copies of the known preamble370, 372, 374, any number of copies may be used, subject to the capacitylimits of the payload portion of the packet, and the payload portion ofthe packet may contain other data besides copies of the known preamble.

By including copies of known preamble 370, 372, 374 in the payload ofmaster test packet 360, the slave that receives master test packet 360may calculate the number of error bits (NEB) that occur in copies ofknown preamble 370, 372, 374 and in known preamble 340. For example, ina Bluetooth based FH communications system, such as Bluetooth or IEEE802.15.1, the known preamble is referred to as the channel access code,which has a length of 72 bits. Based on the channel access code at thestart of a packet and the three copies of the channel access code in thepacket payload sent from the master to the slave, there are 288 bits ofdata to test channel performance based on the NEB.

FIG. 3C is a block diagram that depicts a slave test packet 380 that issent by a slave to a master to provide channel performance measurementsand to test channel performance, according to an embodiment of theinvention. Slave test packet 380 includes a known preamble 340, a packetheader 384, a payload header 386, an NEB of last received packet 388,and copies of known preamble 390, 392, 394.

Known preamble 340 of slave test packet 380 may be the same as that ofmaster test packet 360, provided that master test packet 360 and slavetest packet 380 are sent between participants of the same FHcommunications system.

Packet header 384 and payload header 386 are analogous to packet header364 and payload header 366, respectively, with differences arising fromthe type of packet (e.g., master to slave or slave to master) and packetcontents (e.g., slave test packet 380 contains NEB of last receivedpacket 388).

Slave test packet 380 includes the NEB of last received packet 388 thatcontains the NEB calculated by the slave for the last packet sent by themaster to the slave, such as master test packet 360. The NEB of lastreceived packet 388 is used to pass back from the slave to the masterthe information on the performance of the master to slave transmissionover the particular channel used to send master test packet 360.

In addition, by including copies of known preamble 390, 392, 394 in thepayload of slave test packet 380, the master that receives slave testpacket 380 from a slave may calculate the NEB that occur in copies ofknown preamble 390, 392, 394 and known preamble 340. As discussed above,channel performance may differ between transmissions from master toslave and from slave to master, for example, if an interference sourceis closer to one participant than the other. Although slave test packet380 is depicted and described as including three copies of the knownpreamble 390, 392, 394, any number of copies may be used, subject to thecapacity limits of the payload portion of the packet.

Each channel of a communications system may be tested repeatedly byusing master test packet 360 and slave test packet 380 described herein.For example, in a Bluetooth or IEEE 802.15.1 FH communications system,the frequency hopping rate is 1,600 hops per second, and there are 79channels. Therefore, in one second, each of the 79 channels may betested both from the master to the slave and from the slave to themaster 20 times.

Use of special test packets, such as master test packet 360 and slavetest packet 380, may be well suited for initial channel testing becausemany separate and detailed tests may be made of each channel in a shortamount of time. In addition, channel performance is measured on a scalefrom an NEB value of 0 to an NEB value corresponding to every test bitbeing in error, thereby providing a range of channel performancemeasurements. While the overhead associated with such detailed testingmay be relatively high compared to other methods described below, suchdetailed testing is not generally performed frequently enough to makethe overhead prohibitive.

B. Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI)

According to another embodiment of the invention, a received signalstrength indicator (RSSI) is used to test the performance ofcommunications channels. To determine the RSSI for a channel, a mastercan either just listen at a slave transmission time slot or the masteror send a NULL packet to a slave to ensure that the slave will nottransmit at the next slave transmission time slot. A NULL packetgenerally includes only an access code and a packet header and istypically used to ensure that the master and slave are synchronized.When a slave receives a NULL packet, there is no return packet sent fromthe slave to the master.

By listening to the return channel from the slave, the signal receivedby the master represents the noise floor of the channel because theslave is not transmitting on the channel. If there is interference, suchas from another communications system, the RSSI will be high.Conversely, if there is no interference, the RSSI will be low. Usingthis approach with a Bluetooth or IEEE 802.15.1 communications system,in one second a master may perform 10 RSSI measurements for each of the79 channels.

Use of RSSI may be well suited for initial channel testing because manyseparate and detailed tests may be made of each channel in a shortamount of time. According to one embodiment of the invention, channelperformance is measured on a scale from very low RSSI values to veryhigh RSSI values corresponding to the noise level measured on thechannel, thereby providing a range of channel performance measurements.While the overhead associated with such detailed testing may berelatively high compared to other methods described below, such detailedtesting is not generally performed frequently enough to make theoverhead prohibitive.

C. Preamble Correlation

According to another embodiment of the invention, the known preamble atthe start of the packet is used to test the performance ofcommunications channels. The preamble correlation approach is similar tothe special test packet approach above, but without the use of copies ofthe known preamble in the payload portion of the packet. The master mayuse identification packets, NULL packets, POLL packets, or any otherkind of packet, and correlate the received preamble against the knownpreamble. A packet that does not pass the correlation is discarded(e.g., it is a lost packet).

Use of the preamble correlation approach may be well suited forcontinuous monitoring of channel performance, such as the ongoingmonitoring of a selected set of communications channels, because nospecial packets are required and therefore the overhead is relativelylow compared to other approaches that require additional packets.However, the result of each measurement is whether the packet isdiscarded (or lost) or not, thus providing limited granularity because aone bit error provides the same result of a lost packet and a multiplebit error. Also, because one copy of the known preamble is used insteadof multiple copies, there are fewer bits being used to detectinterference problems. This increases the likelihood that a “bad”channel is mischaracterized as a “good” channel.

D. Header Error Check (HEC)

According to another embodiment of the invention, a header error check(HEC) is used to test the performance of communications channels. TheHEC is a check on the contents of the packet header, such that if anerror occurs in the packet header, the HEC does not check and the packetis discarded (e.g., it is a lost packet).

Use of the HEC approach may be well suited for continuous monitoring ofchannel performance, such as the ongoing monitoring of a selected set ofcommunications channels, because no special packets are required andtherefore the overhead is relatively low compared to other approachesthat require additional packets. However, the result of each measurementis whether the packet is discarded (or lost) or not, thus providinglimited granularity because a one bit error provides the same result ofa lost packet and a multiple bit error.

E. Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC)

According to another embodiment of the invention, a cyclic redundancycheck (CRC) is used to test the performance of communications channels.The CRC may be a check of either the payload of the packet or thecomplete contents of the packet, depending on the communications systemprotocol being used. As an example, in Bluetooth and IEEE 802.15.1, thedata packet must pass a CRC check, otherwise the packet must beretransmitted. A retransmission request (RR) indicates poor channelperformance.

Use of the CRC approach may be well suited for continuous monitoring ofchannel performance, such as the ongoing monitoring of a selected set ofcommunications channels, because no special packets are required andtherefore the overhead is relatively low compared to other approachesthat require additional packets. However, the result of each measurementis whether there is a retransmission request or not, thus providinglimited granularity because a one bit error provides the same result ofa lost packet and a multiple bit error. However, as compared to othertypes of data checks, the CRC provides more bits for testing becauseeither the payload or the entire packet is used to check for errors,instead of just a portion of the packet (e.g., just the header for HEC).

F. Packet Loss Ratio (PLR)

According to another embodiment of the invention, a packet loss ratio(PLR) is used for channel performance testing of transmissions betweenparticipants of a communications system. A packet loss may occur when aspecified condition is satisfied, including but not limited to, afailure of the preamble correlation, HEC, or CRC. PLR may be well suitedfor both initial channel testing and continuous monitoring of channelperformance.

G. Forward Error Correction (FEC)

According to another embodiment of the invention, forward errorcorrection (FEC) is used for channel performance testing oftransmissions between participants of a communications system. FEC maybe performed on the packet header or on the payload of the packet. FECis used as a form of redundant data encoding to allow the recipient toensure the integrity of the received data and to correct any identifiederrors. As an example, in Bluetooth or IEEE 802.15.1, the packet headeris ⅓ FEC coded, and the payload is ⅔ FEC coded. The FEC coding may beused for both an NEB calculation and for error correction.

Use of the FEC approach may be well suited for continuous monitoring ofchannel performance, such as the ongoing monitoring of a selected set ofcommunications channels, because no special packets are required andtherefore the overhead is relatively low compared to other approachesthat require additional packets. While the result of each measurementprovides more granularity via an NEB measurement than some of the othermethods above, there is more overhead associated with FEC and lessinformation may be included in each packet due to the redundant dataencoding.

H. Other Channel Performance Testing Considerations

Although the descriptions of each channel performance measurementtechnique above describes the use of the same method for both master toslave and slave to master transmissions, different methods may be usedfor each transmission direction. For example, the RSSI approach may beused for master to slave transmissions while the preamble correlation isused for slave to master transmissions. Also, different methods may becombined, such that to have a test considered successful, two or moretests must be satisfied. For example, to receive a “pass” indication, apacket may have to pass both the preamble correlation and the HEC.Further, the tests used may change over time depending upon theeffectiveness of the tests and the requirements of a particularapplication or implementation.

III. Channel Classification

According to one embodiment of the invention, a channel is classifiedbased on the channel performance and one or more classificationcriteria. For example, a channel may be classified as “good” or “bad”based on the results of the channel performance testing by applying oneor more performance measurements to specified performance criteria asdiscussed above. As used herein, a good channel's performance exceeds aspecified criterion, or a specified threshold, whereas a bad channel'sperformance does not exceed the specified threshold. Although thisdiscussion assumes that all available channels, or all channels thatcould be used by the communications system, are to be tested andclassified, particular implementations may test and classify fewer thanall of the channels.

According to another embodiment of the invention, multiple tests of eachchannel are used to classify a channel. For example, a master may testeach channel for a specified number of times, such as 10 tests perchannel. The use of multiple tests provides a more accuratedetermination of channel performance because each individual test may beinfluenced by factors that produce results that do not accuratelyreflect the overall performance of the channel. For example, an isolatedinstance of interference may cause a poor channel performancemeasurement even though the channel generally performs well. Conversely,a channel with heavy interference may have an acceptable channelperformance measurement during a temporary break in the interference,even though most of the time there is interference from the interferencesource, such as another communications system.

For example, Table I contains the results of ten channel performancetests for “n” channels. There are three possible results of eachhypothetical channel performance test represented in Table I: high,medium, or low. In practice, each test may have a numerical value, suchas an NEB or RSSI value. Also, each numerical test may be represented bya relative value, such as “superior,” “average,” or “poor”, byconverting a numerical value to such a qualitative scale (e.g., the RSSIis high indicating poor channel performance, the NEB is low indicatinggood channel performance, etc.). Further, each test may have a simple“pass/fail,” “pass/loss”, or “pass/RR” for checks such as HEC, CRC, orFEC, and the packet loss ratio (PLR) may be determined by calculating apercentage of packets that are lost, such as by using the preamblecorrelation, HEC, CRC, or FEC.

TABLE 1 Channel No. 1 2 n − 1 n Test 1 Low Low High High Test 2 Low LowHigh High Test 3 High Low High High Test 4 Low Low High High Test 5 LowHigh Low Medium Test 6 Medium Low High High Test 7 Low Low High HighTest 8 Low High High High Test 9 Low Low High High Test 10 Low Low HighHigh Classification Bad Bad Good Good

In Table 1, channels 1 and 2 are classified as “bad” because the resultsgenerally indicate low channel performance even though not all of theindividual test results for channels 1 and 2 are low and some are mediumor even high. Channels n−1 and n are classified as “good” because theresults generally indicate high channel performance even though someindividual tests indicated a low or medium result. Although this exampleuses subjective performance criteria to classify the channels (e.g.,that the results are generally low or high), quantitative performancecriteria may be used, either in the form of numerical performancemeasurements or by assigning numerical values to the types ofqualitative results depicted in Table 1. In addition, otherclassification criteria may be used, such as that the highest or lowestperformance measurement is to be ignored.

According to another embodiment of the invention, different types oftest results may be used and combined. For example, tests that provideNEB results, either numerical or converted to a qualitative scale, maybe combined with CRC results of “pass/loss” to arrive at an overallassessment of channel performance. The manner in which such results arecombined depends on the particular implementation. For example,different types of tests may be converted to a single type of scale andthen combined or averaged to reach a final result, or different testresults may be combined using weighting factors that favor some types oftests over others to arrive at a final result.

The conversion of numerical results to qualitative results and thecombining of individual tests results to achieve a classification ofeach channel depend on the how competing tradeoffs are to be weighed fora given implementation. For example, high channel performance may bedesired, but setting too high of a standard (e.g., all test results mustbe “high”) may limit the number of channels classified as “good” suchthat there are few good channels available for use and may result infrequent retesting of the channels when supposedly poor performance isdetected. Conversely, setting too low of a standard allows for a largerpool of channels to be used, but then channels with significantinterference are classified as good when in fact channel performance islow and channels are not retested when new interference occurs.

According to another embodiment of the invention, the results of thechannel performance testing are compared to one or more acceptancecriteria. For example, if the testing provides NEB results, an averagevalue may be determined and compared to an acceptance criterion, such asa threshold value. If the testing results exceed the threshold, thechannel is classified as “bad,” but if the testing results do not exceedthe threshold, the channel is classified as “good.” As another example,the correlation approach, HEC, and CRC may all be used to determinewhether a packet is lost or not (e.g., whether an error occurs as aresult of the transmission of the packet) and the packet loss ratiodetermined and compared to a threshold value. Assuming that a thresholdof 15% is established, the loss of more than 15 packets out of 100 wouldresult in the channel being classified as bad, whereas loosing 15 orfewer packets would result in the channel being classified as good.

Channel testing and classification may be performed by a master or otherparticipants, such as slaves. In addition, channel testing andclassifications from multiple participants may be combined and/orweighted to determine an overall, or final, classification for thechannels of interest.

For example, Table 2 provides an illustration of a “referendum” approachthat considers the channel performance determined by a master and sevenslaves.

TABLE 2 Channel Channel Channel Channel Participant 0 22 n − 1 n Master0 0 I I Slave I 0 0 I I Slave 2 0 0 I 0 Slave 3 0 0 I I Slave 4 0 0 I ISlave 5 0 I I I Slave 6 0 0 I I Slave 7 0 0 I I Total Votes 0 I 8 7Passing 7 7 7 7 Mark Classification Bad Bad Good Good

In the example depicted in Table 2, each participant has one “vote” onwhether to use the channel or not. In the example of Table 2, a vote of“O” means that participant is voting to not use the channel (e.g., thechannel is found by that participant to be “bad”), and a vote of “I”means that the participant's vote is to use the channel (e.g., thechannel is found by that participant to be “good”).

A certain number of votes (e.g., the “passing mark”) are required forthe channel to be judged “good” and therefore available for use by theFH communications system. In the example of Table 2, the passing mark isseven so that of the eight votes cast for each channel, sevenparticipants must vote to use the channel for it to be classified as“good.” The same considerations discussed above for determining how tocombine different test results and how to set the threshold fordetermining whether a channel is bad or good apply here when combiningthe results of channel performance testing by multiple participants.

While Table 2 indicates that each participant has an equally weightedvote, other referendum approaches may be used. For example, the vote ofparticular participants, such as the master or a specified slave orslaves, may be given a higher weight. As another example, particularparticipants may be able to “veto” the result, meaning that thoseparticular participants must vote to use the channel in order for it toreceive a passing score.

Other approaches using other classification criteria that differ fromthat of Table 2 may be used, such as a different manner for countingvotes (e.g., using “weighted” votes where some votes count more thanothers) or determining which participants may vote. Not everyparticipant needs to have input for each channel under consideration.While the referendum may be managed by the master in most cases, otherparticipants may collect and combine the channel performanceinformation, or votes, to determine the final channel classifications.

IV. Communicating Selected Channels to Participants

According to another embodiment of the invention, the set ofcommunications channels is selected based on one or more selectioncriteria, and data that indicate the selected set of channels is sent toother participants of the communications system. For example, a mastermay select the channels classified as “good,” generate a special packetthat identifies the selected set of good communications channels in thepayload, and send the special packet to one or more other participantsin the communications network. While the master typically performs theselection of the good channels and notifies other participants of thecommunications system, other participants may perform one or bothfunctions instead of the master.

According to one embodiment of the invention, the master instructs theother participants when to begin using the selected set of channels. Forexample, the master may include in the special packet a specified timeat which the participants are to begin using the selected channels.Alternatively, the specified time may represent a time delay after whichthe participants of the communications system begin to use the goodchannel set instead of the previously used channels. Other time criteriamay be used in addition to specifying a time or to specifying a timedelay

FIG. 4 is a block diagram that depicts a good channel packet 400 sent bya master to slaves to identify a set of selected channels, according toan embodiment of the invention. Although the example depicted in FIG. 4uses particular types of data in a particular order along withparticular error checking and data redundancy approaches, others may beused in place of or in addition to those depicted, and not all of thefeatures depicted in FIG. 4 are necessary for a particularimplementation.

Good channel packet 400 includes a known preamble 410, a packet header420, and a payload header 430, all of which are analogous to the similarelements depicted and discussed with reference to FIGS. 3A, 3B, and 3Cabove. In addition, good channel packet 400 includes a timeout 440, goodchannel data 450, and a CRC 460. Good channel data 450 is part of thepayload portion of good channel packet 400 and identifies the selectedset of good communications channels to be used by the participants ofthe communications network. Good channel data 450 may be encoded, suchas by using a ⅓ FEC coding scheme, to allow the recipient of goodchannel packet 400 to correct any errors in good channel data 450 thatoccur as a result of the transmission of good channel packet 400.

CRC 460 is a cyclic redundancy check value for verifying the accuratetransmission of good channel packet 400. If the cyclic redundancy checkfails, a retransmission request may be sent by the recipient of goodchannel packet 400 to the sender of good channel packet 400 to haveanother good channel packet 400 sent.

Timeout 440 specifies a particular time at which the participants are tobegin using the new channel, or an amount of time that the participantsof the communications system are to wait before beginning to use thegood channels identified by good channel data 450. For example, in aBluetooth or IEEE 802.15.1 FH communications system, timeout 440specifies the number of time slots to wait before the master and slavesbegin to use the good channels. For such FH communications systems, thenumber of time slots must be at least twice the number of slaves becausethe master separately communicates good channel packet 400 to each slaveat even number time slots and receives an acknowledgement back from eachslave on the odd numbered time slots. Other communications systems mayuse a shorter delay by using a broadcast packet to simultaneously informthe other participants of the communications network of the selected setof communications channels.

According to another embodiment of the invention, additional securityprotection may be included by sending the good channel information in anencrypted format to the other participants in the communicationsnetwork. Consider a typical FH communications system in which the FHsequence may be determined if the MAC address of the master is known(because that MAC address is used to select the hopping sequence). Byencrypting the good channel data, even if the MAC address is known, theselection by the master of the channels to use and then transmittingthose selected channels to other participants in an encoded formatprecludes other entities from working out the hopping sequence merely byknowing the MAC address. While having the MAC address may provide otherswith the possible channels that could be used by the particular FHcommunications network, the other entities cannot determine from the MACaddress which channels the master has selected and in which order themaster has arranged the selected channels.

According to another embodiment of the invention, some participants ofthe communications system do not use the selected set of good channels.For example, although typically the selected set of channels is used byall of the participants of the communications system, there may be someparticipants who are not configured to accept and use a set ofcommunications channels sent by another participant. As a result, in aparticular communications system, some participants may communicate witheach other using the original or default set of communications channelswhile other participants communicate using a selected set of goodchannels.

For example, the master of a FH communications system may track whichslaves do and which slaves do not implement the adaptive FH approachdescribed herein. For slaves using the good communications channels, themaster and such slaves communicate using that set of good channels, butother slaves that do not use the good channels communicate with themaster over the default set of communications channels for theparticular FH protocol.

According to yet another embodiment of the invention, more than one setof selected channels is used for communications between differentpairings of participants in a communications network. For example, aparticular set of selected communications channels may be used between amaster and one or more specified slaves while another particular set ofselected communications channels is used between the master and one ormore other specified slaves. As another example, each pairing of themaster and a slave may communicate on a different set of communicationschannels, such as one of the selected sets of communications channels orthe default set of communications channels for the communicationssystem.

V. Implementing Adaptive Frequency Hopping

According to another embodiment of the invention, after a participanthas received the set of selected communications channels, theparticipant stores data that indicates the new set of selected channels.For example, in a Bluetooth or IEEE 802.15.1 FH communications system,each participant has a selection kernel that addresses a register. Theoutput of the kernel is a set of addresses for each slot in theregister, while the content of the slot in the register is a channelnumber. Instead of modifying the selection kernel, which is usuallycomplicated, the register is loaded using only the selected set ofcommunications channels. As a result, when the kernel addresses theregister, only the selected set of channels is used.

Because the size of the register is typically based on the standardnumber of channels for the FH protocol, and the selected set of channelswill normally not include some “bad” channels, the number of selectedchannels is less than the number of slots in the register. One approachfor filling up the register is to cyclically load the register using theselected set of communications channels until the register is full.Another approach is to replace “bad” channels in the original or defaultchannel set using good channels that are randomly selected from theselected channel set. For example, if channel 3 is classified as bad butchannel 12 is good, then channel 12 is specified in place of channel 3in the default hopping sequence.

FIG. 5A is a block diagram that depicts the loading of a set of channelsinto a channel register, according to an embodiment of the invention.FIG. 5A depicts a selection kernel 510, a register with default channels520, a register with good channels 550, and a table of good channels570. Register with default channels 520 includes default channels 522a-522 n that are the channel numbers for the default set of hoppingfrequencies for the particular FH protocol being used for thecommunications network. Register with default channels 520 also includesaddresses 524 a-524 n that are the addresses associated with each slotcontaining one of default channels 522 a-522 n, respectively. Theaddressing by selection kernel 510 of register with default channels 520is depicted by an addressing arrow 512.

Register with good channels 550 includes default channels 552 a-552 nthat is the channel numbers for the good channels, such as may beprovided to the participant using good channel packet 400. The set ofselected good channels is depicted in FIG. 5A as table of good channels570. The loading of the good channels from table of good channels 570into register with good channels 550 is depicted by a loading arrow 572.

Register with good channels 550 also includes addresses 554 a-554 n thatare the addresses associated with each slot containing one of goodchannels 552 a-552 n, respectively. The addressing by selection kernel510 of register with good channels 550 is depicted by addressing arrow514. As selection kernel 510 is not modified, an index is applied to theoutput of selection kernel 510 to address register with good channels550. When the system switches back to register with default channels520, the index is removed, and vice versa.

Because register with good channels 550 is loaded using the goodchannels from table of good channels 570, only those good channels areaddressed by selection kernel 510.

FIG. 5B is a block diagram that depicts the replacement of bad channelswith good channels in a default set of channels in a channel register,according to an embodiment of the invention. FIG. 5B depicts many of thesame features as described above with respect to FIG. 5A, except for thedifferences discussed herein. The major difference between the exampleof FIG. 5A and FIG. 5B is that in FIG. 5B, whenever selection kernel 510addresses a channel classified as bad in register with default channels520, the bad channel is replaced with a good channel that is randomlyselected from table of good channels 570. Thus, only good channels areselected to form the hopping sequence.

In the example of FIG. 5B, register with default channels 520 is thesame as in FIG. 5A. However, whenever selection kernel 510 addresses abad default channel in register with default channels 520, the baddefault channel is replaced with good channels that are randomlyselected from table of good channels 570. Assume for this example thatdefault channels 522 b and 522 n-1 are classified as bad and that theremaining default channels are classified as good. Also, for thisexample, table of good channels 570 includes good channels 576 a-576 n.

In the particular example of FIG. 5B, addressing arrow 530 depictsselection kernel 510 addressing good default channel 522 a, whoseaddress is address 524 a. Default channel 522 a is used because defaultchannel 522 a is classified as good. Although not depicted in FIG. 5B,good default channels 522 c and 522 n are similarly addressed. However,addressing arrow 532 depicts selection kernel 510 addressing bad defaultchannel 522 b, whose address is address 524 b. A good channel 576 a israndomly selected from good channel table 570 to replace default channel522 b because default channel 522 b is classified as bad. As anotherparticular example, addressing arrow 534 depicts selection kernel 510addressing bad default channel 522 n−1, whose address is address 524n−1. A good channel 576 k is randomly selected from good channel table570 to replace bad default channel 522 n−1.

As a result of the replacement channel approach described above, all thegood channels of the original default set of channels in the originalhopping sequence are kept in the same position, while all the badchannels in the original hopping sequence are replaced by good channels.The bad channel replacement approach is dynamic, meaning that the samebad channel can be replaced by another randomly selected good channelwhen, at a later time, the selection kernel addresses the bad channel.

According to another embodiment of the invention, implementation of aselected set of communications channels includes setting a good channelusage timeout (GCUT). Because interference may change over time, such asfrom other communications systems starting or stopping to be used or asa result of changes of location of the participants of thecommunications network or of interference sources, it may be useful toperiodically change the set of channels being used. For example, somepreviously good channels may become bad and vice versa, thus impactingthe communications system after the set of communications channels isselected and implemented in the communications network. For a Bluetoothor IEEE 802.15.1 FH communications system, a five-minute GCUT may beused.

According to one embodiment of the invention, after expiration of theGCUT, the participants of the communications network switch back to theoriginal or default set of communications channels, after whichadditional performance testing may be performed and another set ofcommunications channels selected. The switch back to the default set ofcommunications channels may be performed by each participant at aselected time or after the specified time delay, or the master may senda “switch back” message to the other participants of the communicationsnetwork with a timeout delay, and then after the timeout delay expires,the participants switch back. In addition, the additional performancetesting may be performed prior to expiration of the GCUT to reduce theamount of time the participants use the default set of channels.According to another embodiment of the invention, prior to expiration ofthe GCUT, the participants are provided with a new set of channels,eliminating the need to switch to the default set of channels.

VI. Monitoring Channels

As discussed above, interference may change over time as a result ofother communications systems that become active or inactive or as aresult of movement of the participants of a communications system or asource of interference. While the use of the GCUT will eventually allowfor such changes to be detected and new channel sets selected that takeinto account the changes in interference, performance of thecommunications system prior to the expiration of the GCUT may beimpacted to an undesirable degree.

According to one embodiment of the invention, the channel performance ofthe selected set of communications channels is monitored and rescanningof the default channels is triggered based on specified performancecriteria. For example, if a channel previously classified as good isretested and determined to be bad, the communications network may switchback to the default channel set to allow for rescanning of the channelsto select a new set of communications channels that account for changesin interference since the previous set was selected. As another example,a channel previously classified as good that is now found to be bad maybe replaced by another good channel in the register of the participants.As yet another example, rescanning of the default channels may betriggered when the number of previously good but now bad channelsreaches a specified number when the number of still good channels dropsbelow a specified threshold.

While any method of measuring channel performance may be used formonitoring the selected set of communications channels, some methods maybe more appropriate than others. For example, the preamble correlation,HEC, CRC, PLR, and FEC approaches discussed above may be used, eitheralone or in combination with each other, because those approaches do notrequire the use of special packets. As a result, those approaches may beused during normal data transmissions, thereby providing continuousmonitoring of the performance of the selected set of communicationschannels. A channel that has a specified number of lost packets, such asfive, or another threshold of poor channel performance, may bereclassified as bad instead of good.

VII. Message Sequencing and Example Implementation

According to another embodiment of the invention, messages are sent froma master to the slaves of a communications system to switch to and fromselected sets of communications channels until positive acknowledgementsare received from the slaves. For example, the master may transmit theselected set of communications channels to all the slaves of thecommunications network by sending good channel packets and then wait toreceive a positive acknowledgement message from each slave. If anegative acknowledgement is received from a slave, the masterretransmits the set of channels to the slave until a positiveacknowledgement is received. A negative acknowledgement may include thelack of any message from a slave within a specified period of time or amessage indicating an error or other problem with the transmission ofthe selected set of communications channels. As another example, asimilar acknowledgement approach may be used when the master sends amessage to the slaves of the communications network to switch back to adefault set of communications channels.

FIGS. 6A, 6B, and 6C are flow diagrams that depict the messagesequencing for implementing adaptive frequency hopping, according to anembodiment of the invention. The message sequences depicted areillustrative and particular implementations may include fewer or moresteps in the same or a different order or configuration. While steps areindicated as being performed by a master 610, slaves 612, or both, thesteps indicated under one type of participant may be performed by othertypes of participants, and the participant types are not limited toparticipants that are designated to be either a master or a slave. Also,while the flow diagram depicts the use of either default channels 614 orgood channels 616 during the indicated steps, other sets of channels maybe used at each step.

In block 620, master 610 sends a master test packet to slaves 612. Themaster test packet may be that depicted in FIG. 3A if the special packettesting approach is used. In general, any desired channel performancetesting method, such as those discussed above, may be used alone or incombination with each other. However, for this example, the use ofmaster test packet 360 and slave test packet 380 will be described. Asnoted before, the special packet and RSSI testing approaches fordetermining channel performance are more likely to be used for initialtesting of the channels whereas the other testing approaches are morelikely to be used for monitoring channel performance of a set ofchannels.

After master test packet 360 is received, each of slaves 612 test theNEB of master test packet 360 sent by the master to the particular slaveover a specified communications channel, as discussed above, todetermine the performance of the communications channel, as depicted byblock 624.

In block 628, slaves 612 each transmit a slave test packet 380 to master610. As discussed above, slave test packet 380 includes the NEB of themaster test packet (e.g., NEB of last received packet 388 depicted inFIG. 3B).

In block 632, master 610 tests the NEB of slave test packet 380 sent byeach of the slaves 612 over another specified communications channel. Asdiscussed before, testing of each channel is typically performed for aspecified number of times, such as 10, to get a fair representation ofthe typical performance of each channel and thereby avoid relying on oneor a few tests that may not accurately reflect typical channelperformance.

In block 636, master 610 classifies the channels as bad or good based onthe testing measurements (e.g., the calculated NEB of the master andslave test packets) by comparing the test results to one or moreperformance criteria, as discussed above.

In block 640, master 610 sends slaves 612 the good channels, such as byusing good channel packet 400 that includes timeout 440 for specifyingthe delay until the communications network will begin to use the goodchannels.

Slaves 612 receive good channel packet 400 in block 644. In block 648,slaves 612 send an acknowledgement to master 610 that indicates whethergood channel packet 400 was successfully received. Master 610 receivesthe acknowledgement messages from slaves 612 in block 652.

In block 654, master 610 determines whether a positive acknowledgementhas been received from slaves 612. If not, the method returns to block640 where master 610 sends good channel packet 400 again. If so, themethod continues to block 658.

From block 620 through block 654, default channels 614 are used bymaster 610 and slaves 612 to communicate. However, after expiration ofthe delay specified by timeout 440 of good channel packet 400, theparticipants hop over good channels 616 instead of default channels 614,as depicted in block 658.

As noted above, not all participants (e.g., all of slaves 612) mayimplement the adaptive channel set selection approach described herein,and master 610 may not have received a positive acknowledgement from allthe slaves by the time the timeout expires. According to one embodimentof the invention, the master communicates over the good channels withthe slaves that are ready to use the good channels and over the defaultchannels with the slaves that are not ready or are unable to use thegood channels.

During the use of good channels 616 by the participants of thecommunications network, the channel performance of the selected set ofgood channels is monitored, as depicted by block 662, to determine ifnew or increased interference occurs on the selected set of channels.The monitoring of channel performance may be done by any desired method,including the methods discussed above, either alone or in combinationwith each other.

Typically, the preamble correlation, HEC, CRC, PLR, FEC, or somecombination thereof is used since such methods do not require specialpackets or significant overhead as with the special packet or RSSIapproaches.

In block 666, a determination is made whether to switch back from goodchannels 616 to default channels 614. The determination may be madebased on one or more criteria, including but not limited to thefollowing: (1) the expiration of a specified time, such as a GCUT of 5minutes; (2) classification of at least one previously good channel asnow being bad; or (3) the number of channels that remain classified asgood drops below a specified threshold (e.g., if the number of goodchannels of an original good channel set of 50 channels drops below 40).The particular details of each criteria, such as the expiration time orthe threshold on the number of good channels, depends on the striking abalance for a particular implementation between the desired performanceof the channels and the overhead of reselecting new, good channels.

If in block 666 a determination is made not to switch back to defaultchannels 614, the method returns to block 662 to continue monitoringchannel performance. If a determination is made to switch, then themethod continues on to block 670.

After master 610 determines that a switch from good channels 616 back todefault channels 614 is appropriate, master 610 sends a command toslaves 612 to “switch back to default channels”, along with a timeout,as depicted in block 670. For example, master 610 may use a modifiedversion of good channel packet 400 that includes a command to switchback to default channels in the payload portion of the packet instead ofgood channel data 450. The “switch back” message includes a timeoutsimilar to timeout 440 to specify the delay after which the participantsof the communications network switch back to using default channels 614.

Slaves 612 receive the “switch back” message with timeout in block 674,and then in block 678 slaves 612 send an acknowledgement to master 610that indicates whether the “switch back” message was successfullyreceived. Master 610 receives the acknowledgement messages from slaves612 in block 682.

In block 686, master 610 determines whether a positive acknowledgementhas been received from slaves 612. If not, the method returns to block670 where master 610 sends the “switch back” message again. If so, themethod continues to block 690.

In block 690, after expiration of the delay specified by the timeoutincluded in the “switch back” message, the participants hop over defaultchannels 614 instead of good channels 616.

In block 694, the performance of the default channels is redetermined byadditional testing, meaning that the process returns to block 620 torepeat the steps outlined above.

VIII. Implementation Mechanisms

The approach for selecting sets of communications channels based onchannel performance described herein may be implemented in a variety ofways and the invention is not limited to any particular implementation.The approach may be integrated into a communications system or a networkdevice, including but not limited to communications devices andcommunications channel selector apparatuses. Also, the approach may beimplemented as a stand-alone mechanism, including but not limited to acommunications device and a communications channel selector apparatusthat can operate independently of a communications system. Furthermore,the embodiments, including a communications channel selector mechanism,may be implemented in computer software, hardware, or a combinationthereof.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram that depicts a computer system 700 upon whichembodiments of the invention may be implemented. Computer system 700includes a bus 702 or other communications mechanism for communicatinginformation, and a processor 704 coupled with bus 702 for processinginformation. Computer system 700 also includes a main memory 706, suchas a random access memory (RAM) or other dynamic storage device, coupledto bus 702 for storing information and instructions to be executed byprocessor 704. Main memory 706 also may be used for storing temporaryvariables or other intermediate information during execution ofinstructions to be executed by processor 704. Computer system 700further includes a read only memory (ROM) 708 or other static storagedevice coupled to bus 702 for storing static information andinstructions for processor 704. A storage device 710, such as a magneticdisk or optical disk, is provided and coupled to bus 702 for storinginformation and instructions.

Computer system 700 may be coupled via bus 702 to a display 712, such asa cathode ray tube (CRT), for displaying information to a computer user.An input device 714, including alphanumeric and other keys, is coupledto bus 702 for communicating information and command selections toprocessor 704. Another type of user input device is cursor control 716,such as a mouse, a trackball, or cursor direction keys for communicatingdirection information and command selections to processor 704 and forcontrolling cursor movement on display 712. This input device typicallyhas two degrees of freedom in two axes, a first axis (e.g., x) and asecond axis (e.g., y), that allows the device to specify positions in aplane.

The invention is related to the use of computer system 700 forimplementing the techniques described herein. According to oneembodiment of the invention, those techniques are performed by computersystem 700 in response to processor 704 executing one or more sequencesof one or more instructions contained in main memory 706. Suchinstructions may be read into main memory 706 from anothercomputer-readable medium, such as storage device 710. Execution of thesequences of instructions contained in main memory 706 causes processor704 to perform the process steps described herein. In alternativeembodiments of the invention, hard-wired circuitry may be used in placeof or in combination with software instructions to implement theinvention. Thus, embodiments of the invention are not limited to anyspecific combination of hardware circuitry and software.

The term “computer-readable medium” as used herein refers to any mediumthat participates in providing instructions to processor 704 forexecution. Such a medium may take many forms, including but not limitedto, non-volatile media, volatile media, and transmission media.Non-volatile media includes, for example, optical or magnetic disks,such as storage device 710. Volatile media includes dynamic memory, suchas main memory 706. Transmission media includes coaxial cables, copperwire, and fiber optics, including the wires that comprise bus 702.Transmission media can also take the form of acoustic or light waves,such as those generated during radio-wave and infra-red datacommunications.

Common forms of computer-readable media include, for example, a floppydisk, a flexible disk, hard disk, magnetic tape, or any other magneticmedium, a CD-ROM, any other optical medium, punchcards, papertape, anyother physical medium with patterns of holes, a RAM, a PROM, and EPROM,a FLASH-EPROM, any other memory chip or cartridge, a carrier wave asdescribed hereinafter, or any other medium from which a computer canread.

Various forms of computer readable media may be involved in carrying oneor more sequences of one or more instructions to processor 704 forexecution. For example, the instructions may initially be carried on amagnetic disk of a remote computer. The remote computer can load theinstructions into its dynamic memory and send the instructions over atelephone line using a modem. A modem local to computer system 700 canreceive the data on the telephone line and use an infra-red transmitterto convert the data to an infra-red signal. An infra-red detector canreceive the data carried in the infra-red signal and appropriatecircuitry can place the data on bus 702. Bus 702 carries the data tomain memory 706, from which processor 704 retrieves and executes theinstructions. The instructions received by main memory 706 mayoptionally be stored on storage device 710 either before or afterexecution by processor 704.

Computer system 700 also includes a communication interface 718 coupledto bus 702. Communication interface 718 provides a two-way datacommunication coupling to a network link 720 that is connected to alocal network 722. For example, communication interface 718 may be anintegrated services digital network (ISDN) card or a modem to provide adata communication connection to a corresponding type of telephone line.As another example, communication interface 718 may be a local areanetwork (LAN) card to provide a data communication connection to acompatible LAN. Wireless links may also be implemented. In any suchimplementation, communication interface 718 sends and receiveselectrical, electromagnetic, or optical signals that carry digital datastreams representing various types of information.

Network link 720 typically provides data communication through one ormore networks to other data devices. For example, network link 720 mayprovide a connection through local network 722 to a host computer 724 orto data equipment operated by an Internet Service Provider (ISP) 726.ISP 726 in tum provides data communication services through theworldwide packet data communication network now commonly referred to asthe “Internet” 728. Local network 722 and Internet 728 both useelectrical, electromagnetic, or optical signals that carry digital datastreams. The signals through the various networks and the signals onnetwork link 720 and through communication interface 718, which carrythe digital data to and from computer system 700, are exemplary forms ofcarrier waves transporting the information. Computer system 700 can sendmessages and receive data, including program code, through thenetwork(s), network link 720, and communication interface 718. In theInternet example, a server 730 might transmit a requested code for anapplication program through Internet 728, ISP 726, local network 722,and communication interface 718.

The received code may be executed by processor 704 as it is received,and/or stored in storage device 710, or other non-volatile storage forlater execution. In this manner, computer system 700 may obtainapplication code in the form of a carrier wave.

In the foregoing specification, the invention has been described withreference to specific embodiments of the invention thereof. It will,however, be evident that various modifications and changes may be madethereto without departing from the broader spirit and scope of theinvention. The specification and drawings are, accordingly, to beregarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense.

1. A wireless communications device adapted to manage a power levelrequired to achieve a specified level of transmission quality, whereinbeing adapted to control the power level required to achieve thespecified level of transmission quality device includes being configuredto: determine a subset of communications channels available to be usedfor frequency hopping communications of a set of communications channelsin a frequency band, wherein being configured to determine the subset ofcommunications channels includes being configured to exclude eachchannel of the set of communications channels exhibiting an assessedlevel of channel performance outside of a target threshold level ofchannel performance; send packet data including information defining thesubset of communications channels to another wireless communicationsdevice in a wireless communications network; and use at least one of thecommunications channels of the subset of communications channels as oneof a plurality of communication channels for frequency hoppingcommunications with the other wireless communications device.
 2. Thewireless communications device of claim 1, wherein being adapted tocontrol the power level required to achieve the specified level oftransmission quality device includes being further configured to:monitor said channel performance between the wireless communicationsdevice and the other wireless communications device; determine when saidchannel performance indicates that one or more of said communicationchannels providing frequency hopping communications exceeds a specifiedlevel of interference; cause a new instance of the subset ofcommunications channels to be determined; send packet data includinginformation defining the new instance of the subset of communicationschannels to the other wireless communications device in the wirelesscommunications network; and use at least one of the communicationschannels of the new instance of the subset of communications channels asone of a plurality of communication channels for frequency hoppingcommunications with the other wireless communications device.
 3. Thewireless communications device of claim 2, wherein the specified levelof interference is at least partially defined by a power level requiredto achieve a specified transmission quality.
 4. The wirelesscommunications device of claim 1, wherein the packet data furtherincludes timing information indicating when to begin using the subset ofcommunications channels of the packet for frequency hoppingcommunications.
 5. The wireless communications device of claim 4,wherein the timing information indicates a number of time slots to waitbefore beginning to use the subset of communications channels forfrequency hopping communications.
 6. The wireless communications deviceof claim 1, wherein the wireless communications device is furtherconfigured to: load channel indices of the subset of communicationschannels into a register of the wireless communications device; andapply an index to a channel index of an identified communicationschannel of the subset of communications channels to identify, from theregister, a channel index of a communications channel to use forfrequency hopping communications with the other wireless communicationsdevice at the time slot, if the identified communications channels isnot used for frequency hopping communications.
 7. The wirelesscommunications device of claim 1, wherein the wireless communicationsdevice being configured to use the at least one of the communicationschannels of the subset of communications channels for frequency hoppingcommunications with the other wireless communications device comprisesthe wireless communications device being configured to use theidentified communications channel for frequency hopping communicationswith the other wireless communications device at a time slot at or afterthe wireless communications device and the other wireless communicationsdevice begin using the subset of communications channels for frequencyhopping communications.
 8. A wireless communications device adapted tomanage a power level required to achieve a specified level oftransmission quality, wherein being adapted to control the power levelrequired to achieve the specified level of transmission quality deviceincludes being configured to: receive a packet from another wirelesscommunications device in a wireless communications network, wherein thepacket includes information identifying the communications channels of asubset of communications channels available to be used for frequencyhopping communications of a set of communications channels in afrequency band, wherein the subset of communications channels excludeseach channel of the set of communications channels exhibiting anassessed level of channel performance outside of a target thresholdlevel of the channel performance; identify a communications channel fromthe subset of communication channels; and use the identifiedcommunications channel as one of a plurality of communication channelsfor frequency hopping communications with the other wirelesscommunications device.
 9. The wireless communications device of claim 8,wherein each packet further comprises a time value indicating when tobegin using the subset of communications channels for frequency hoppingcommunications.
 10. The wireless communications device of claim 9,wherein the time value indicates a number of time slots to wait beforebeginning to use the subset of communications channels for frequencyhopping communications.
 11. The wireless communications device of claim8, wherein being adapted to reduce power consumption comprises thewireless communications device being configured to: load channel indicesof the subset of communications channels into a register of the wirelesscommunications device; and apply an index to a channel index of anidentified communications channel of the subset of communicationschannels to identify, from the register, a channel index of acommunications channel to use for frequency hopping communications withthe other wireless communications device at the time slot, if theidentified communications channels is not used for frequency hoppingcommunications.
 12. The wireless communications device of claim 8,wherein the wireless communications device being configured to use theat least one of the communications channels of the subset ofcommunications channels for frequency hopping communications with theother wireless communications device comprises the wirelesscommunications device being configured to configured to use theidentified communications channel for frequency hopping communicationswith the other wireless communications device at a time slot at or afterthe wireless communications device and the other wireless communicationsdevice begin using the subset of communications channels for frequencyhopping communications.
 13. The wireless communications device of claim12, wherein each packet further comprises a time value indicating whento begin using the subset of communications channels for frequencyhopping communications.
 14. The wireless communications device of claim13, wherein the time value indicates a number of time slots to waitbefore beginning to use the subset of communications channels forfrequency hopping communications.
 15. The wireless communications deviceof claim 12, wherein being adapted to reduce power consumption comprisesthe wireless communications device being configured to: load channelindices of the subset of communications channels into a register of thewireless communications device; and apply an index to a channel index ofan identified communications channel of the subset of communicationschannels to identify, from the register, a channel index of acommunications channel to use for frequency hopping communications withthe other wireless communications device at the time slot, if theidentified communications channels is not used for frequency hoppingcommunications.
 16. A method of operating a wireless communicationdevice to manage a power level required to achieve a specified level oftransmission quality thereof, comprising: a first wirelesscommunications device determining a subset of communications channelsavailable to be used for frequency hopping communications of a set ofcommunications channels in a frequency band, wherein the subset ofcommunications channels excludes each channel of the set ofcommunications channels exhibiting an assessed level of channelperformance outside of a target threshold level of the channelperformance; the first wireless communications device sending, to asecond wireless communications device in a wireless communicationsnetwork, a packet comprising information defining the communicationschannel in the subset of communications channels to be used forfrequency hopping communications between the first and second wirelesscommunications devices; the first participant identifying acommunications channel from the subset of communication channels; andthe first participant using the identified communications channels ofthe subset of communications channels as one of a plurality ofcommunication channels for frequency hopping communications with theother wireless communications device at a time slot at or after thewireless communications device and the other wireless communicationsdevice begin using the subset of communications channels for frequencyhopping communications.
 17. The method of claim 16, wherein each packetfurther comprises a time value indicating when to begin using the subsetof communications channels for frequency hopping communications.
 18. Themethod of claim 17, wherein the time value indicates a number of timeslots to wait before beginning to use the subset of communicationschannels for frequency hopping communications.
 19. The method of claim16, further comprising: the first wireless communications device loadingchannel indices of the subset of communications channels into a registerof the first wireless communications device; and the first wirelesscommunications device applying an index to a channel index of theidentified communications channel of the subset of communicationschannels to identify, from the register, a channel index of acommunications channel to use for frequency hopping communications withthe second wireless communications device at the time slot, if theidentified communications channels is not used for frequency hoppingcommunications.
 20. The method of claim 16, further comprising: thefirst participant classifying each communications channel in the subsetof communications channels as a function of the assessed level ofchannel performance; wherein a communication channel is classified asnot promoting interference when the assessed level of channelperformance is within the target threshold level of the channelperformance; and wherein a communication channel is classified aspromoting interference when the assessed level of channel performance isoutside the target threshold level of the channel performance.